I too welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Dan Wallace. I would of course prefer to have the Minister for Foreign Affairs present because this is an issue which has been very much in the public domain and it would be of considerable concern to him.
A young Dublin man went on holidays to Thailand in May and he ended up being robbed of £500 and arrested and remanded in prison charged with the theft of a camera valued at £100. He spent the following five months in prison in grossly inhumane conditions where international standards of human rights were obviously not observed. Approximately 180 other prisoners were detained with him in a room, which was not very large and in which not everybody could sit or lie down at the same time. He was manacled for considerable periods in those circumstances. He lost a lot of weight and his teeth were in a very bad condition and were very painful as a result of the diet. He could hardly digest much of the food given to him. Many of the prisoners were receiving food from outside, but of course he could not speak the language and he knew nobody in the country. He was held in desperate conditions.
His brother and mother did everything they could. His brother, who had been there with him, tried to get some legal representation before he returned to Ireland. The system operating in Thailand required one lawyer to deal with bail and another to deal with the charge. Between the jigs and the reels, a number of bail applications were made. Originally the court indicated that he would be let out on bail of £4,000, but then bail was refused. Then the sum was raised to £8,000 and again it was refused, and the matter dragged on. Court hearings were scheduled which never took place because the prosecution witnesses did not seem to be available. As a result this young man spent more than five months in prison.
There was great difficulty in getting much contact with the Irish authorities because of course there is no Irish embassy in Thailand and the nearest embassy is in Kuala Lumpur. At the time that embassy was not fully staffed and it was difficult for it to make contact. Therefore the pursuit of the matter was left in the hands of the Irish community, who heard about the travesty taking place when his mother and brother were interviewed by Joe Duffy on "Liveline". Indeed, I thank RTE radio for the extent of its coverage on the matter, which resulted in international communications between Ireland and the Irish community in Thailand. As I understand it, due to the almost instantaneous manner in which such communications take place, the Irish community in Thailand were made aware of what was happening. They came together to help a fellow Irish citizen and pulled out all the stops to ensure he would be released on bail. Fair play to them. This would not have happened, as I understand it, were it not for the existence of a vigilant Irish community in Thailand and the fact that they became aware of what happened. Were it not for their intervention he could still be in prison in deplorable conditions in Thailand with no indication of when the case might be heard.
The question which therefore arises is the position regarding Irish people in such difficulties in far flung countries. Thailand is becoming increasingly popular as a holiday destination for Irish people, yet we do not have an embassy there. Arising from this unfortunate incident, which is still not resolved, where somebody was kept in such conditions, I ask the Minister what steps are being taken to provide guidelines and procedures to ensure that Irish citizens aboard are not subjected to conditions which infringe on international civil and human rights. In countries where there are systems operating which are not fully democratic, our embassies should monitor situations causing difficulties for Irish citizens and make available legal services.
Persons abroad who do not speak the language could find themselves at the mercy of whatever legal person they might be put in contact with through a native contact in the country concerned and they might not know what the legal system entails. This poor family had two lawyers dealing with the case and it just went on and on. It is important that there should be good legal services available in those circumstances and that, where the person is such a huge distance from home and when civil and human rights are being infringed, the embassy should have the means to make such services available at a very reasonable cost, if not free of charge.
When there is no Irish embassy in a country, surely we can provide an Irish honourary consul. There is no Irish honourary consul in Thailand, although there is a British representative. Why can we not appoint an Irish man or woman who would represent the interests of the Irish people in Thailand? If there was such a person, there would be a far greater degree of networking within the Irish community and if such incidents occur, which should not occur in any case, they would be able to deal with them in a more expedient fashion.
I look forward to the Minister of State's reply regarding what the Department has done and what I hope it will do in the case of this young man, and also what it intends to do on a general basis for Irish citizens who find themselves in similar circumstances while abroad in the future.
